gallery of best resumes for people without a four-year degree

Professional resume writers from across North America and the English-speaking world submitted thousands of sample resumes—and only the very best made it into the Gallery of Best Resumes

THIRD EDITION



GALLERY

Looking for a way to stand out from other job applicants? Now you can benefit from the tricks of

the trade with this showcase of outstanding, letter-perfect resumes written by professional

resume writers especially for people with a high school diploma up to a two-year degree!

8902 Otis Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46216-1033

1-800-648-JIST Fax 1-800-JIST-FAX

Includes Nearly 200 Resumes and 12 Cover Letters!

Professional resume writers from across North America and the

English-speaking world submitted thousands of sample resumes—and

only the very best made it into the Gallery of Best Resumes for People

Without a Four-Year Degree All are eye-catching, one-of-a-kind

resumes that will help you land more job interviews The Gallery

includes examples of chronological, functional, combination, and

Plus—Resume– and Cover Letter–Writing Tips from the Pros!

• 12 Best Resume-Writing Strategies

• 36 Best Resume Design and Layout Tips

• 12 Best Resume-Writing Style Tips

• 7 Myths About Cover Letters

• 29 Tips for Polishing Cover Letters

About the Author

Hundreds of thousands of people know David F Noble, Ph.D., as the

author of the resume book that helped them find jobs! His many books

on resumes include Gallery of Best Resumes; Gallery of Best Cover

Letters; Professional Resumes for Accounting, Tax, Finance, and Law;

and Professional Resumes for Executives, Managers, and Other

Administrators He has more than 20 years of experience teaching

writing, literature, business communications, technical writing,

professional editing, and desktop publishing at several universities

A One-of-a-Kind Resource for All Your Resume-Writing Needs!

A Collection of Quality Resumes

by Professional Resume Writers

Gallery of Best Resumes for People Without a Four-Year Degree, Third Edition

A Special Collection of Quality Resumes by Professional Resume Writers

Originally published as Gallery of Best Resumes for Two-Year-Degree Graduates

© 1990, 2000, 2005 by David F Noble

Published by JIST Works, an imprint of JIST Publishing, Inc.

8902 Otis Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46216-1033 Phone: 800-648-JIST Fax: 800-JIST-FAX E-mail: info@jist.com

Visit our Web site at www.jist.com for information on JIST, free job search tips, book chapters, and

ordering instructions for our many products For free information on 14,000 job titles, visit

www.careeroink.com.

Other books by David F Noble:

Gallery of Best Cover Letters Gallery of Best Resumes Professional Resumes for Accounting, Tax, Finance, and Law Professional Resumes for Executives, Managers, and Other Administrators

Quantity discounts are available for JIST books Please call our Sales Department at 1-800-648-5478 for a free catalog and more information.

Acquisitions Editor: Lori Cates Hand Project Editor: Gayle Johnson Proofreader: Paula Lowell Interior Designer: Debbie Berman Cover Designer: DesignLab, Seattle Page Layout: Trudy Coler

Indexer: Virginia Noble Printed in the United States of America.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Noble, David F (David Franklin), 1935-

Gallery of best resumes for people without a four-year degree : a collection of quality resumes by professional resume writers / by David

2004015333

All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quo- tations embodied in articles or reviews Making copies of any part of this book for any purpose other than your own personal use is a violation of United States copyright law For permission requests, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at www.copyright.com or (978) 750–8400.

We have been careful to provide accurate information throughout this book, but it is possible that errors and omissions have been introduced Please consider this in making any career plans or other important decisions Trust your own judgment above all else and in all things.

Trademarks: All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

ISBN: 1-59357-068-6

In memory of my brother, Maynard A Noble (1929–1995), and to Peggy, Ron, Chris, and Wendy, who made him rich with their loving care

T o all those who helped make possible this updated Gallery for people without a year degree, I would like to acknowledge my appreciation I am most indebted to all the professional resume writers who sent me examples of their latest work for inclusion

four-in this book These writers took the time on short notice to supply more than 350 new documents The result is that all the resume and cover letter examples selected for this book are new No example in the Second Edition is repeated in this Third Edition.

Because the Third Edition of this book is not just a tweak of the Second Edition, the Second Edition is worth keeping, and the Third Edition is worth acquiring Together, the two provide an expanded collection of more than 400 professionally written resume exam- ples for those without a four-year degree.

I want to express again my gratitude to Bob Grilliot, who suggested that the Second Edition

of this book should include resumes for people without a four-year degree I am altogether indebted to my wife, Ginny, for the many tasks she performed online, on-screen, and on hard copy so that this new edition could be completed on time.

Acknowledgments

vii

Introduction 1

Why a Gallery for People Without a Four-Year Degree? 2

How This Book Is Organized 3

Who This Book Is For 4

What This Book Can Do for You 5

Part 1: Best Resume Tips 7

Best Resume Tips at a Glance 8

Best Resume Writing Tips 9

Best Resume Writing Strategies 10

Best Resume Design and Layout Tips 11

Best Resume Writing Style Tips 16

Part 2: The Gallery of Professional Resumes 21

The Gallery at a Glance 22

How to Use the Gallery 23

Accounting 25

Administrative Support 37

Communications 61

Construction 67

Customer Service 75

Design 93

Education 105

Events Planning 109

Finance 115

Health and Safety 135

Healthcare 145

Hospitality 167

Human Resources 199

Information Systems/Information Technology 205

Law/Law Enforcement 233

Maintenance 241

Management 253

Manufacturing 289

Purchasing 301

Real Estate 307

Recruiting 313

Sales and Marketing 319

Technology 353

Transportation 367

Part 3: Best Cover Letter Tips 373

Best Cover Letter Tips at a Glance 374

Best Cover Letter Writing Tips 375

Myths About Cover Letters 375

Tips for Polishing Cover Letters 376

Using Good Strategies for Letters 376

Using Pronouns Correctly 377

Using Verb Forms Correctly 378

Using Punctuation Correctly 379

Using Words Correctly 383

Exhibit of Cover Letters 385

Appendix: List of Contributors 399

Occupation Index 415

Features Index 419

L ike the Gallery of Best Resumes, the Gallery of Best Resumes for People Without a

Four-Year Degree is a collection of quality resumes from professional resume writers, each

with individual views about resumes and resume writing Unlike many resume books whose selections look the same, this book contains resumes that look different because

they are representations of real resumes prepared by different professionals for actual job

searchers throughout the country (Certain information in the resumes has been ized by the writers to protect the clients’ privacy.) Even when several resumes from the same writer appear in the book, most of these resumes are different because the writer has customized each resume according to the background information and career goals of the client for whom the resume was prepared.

fictional-During the past several years, the resume writing industry has matured because of the lowing factors:

fol-■ The increase in the number of professional organizations for resume writers.

■ The ready sharing of ideas at these organizations’ national conventions.

■ Easy access to e-mail and the World Wide Web.

■ The greater availability of higher-resolution, lower-cost printers white and color) for personal computers.

(black-and-■ The increase in the number of books like this Gallery that display collections of quality resumes and cover letters by professional writers Often these books serve as idea books that emerging writers use as they develop their own expertise.

Instead of assuming that one resume style fits all, the writers featured here believe that a client’s past experiences and next job target should determine the resume’s type, design, and content The use of Best in this book’s title reflects this approach to resume making.

The resumes are not “best” because they are ideal types for you to copy, but because the resume writers interacted with their clients to fashion resumes that seemed best for each client’s situation at the time.

This book features resumes from writers who share several important qualities: good tening skills, a sense of what details are appropriate for a particular resume, and flexibility

lis-in selectlis-ing and arranglis-ing the resume’s sections By “hearlis-ing between” a client’s ments, the perceptive resume writer can detect what kind of job the client really wants.

state-The writer then chooses the information that best represents the client for the job being sought Finally, the writer decides on the best arrangement of the information for that job, from most important to least important With the help of this book, you can create this kind of resume yourself.

Most of the writers of the resumes in this Gallery are members of the Career Masters Institute (CMI), the National Résumé Writers Association (NRWA), the Professional

Introduction

Association of Résumé Writers & Career Coaches (PARW/CC), or the Professional Résumé Writing and Research Association (PRWRA) Many of the writers belong to more than one of these organizations Each organization has programs for earned certification.

For example, writers who have the CPRW certification, for Certified Professional Résumé Writer, received this designation from the PARW/CC after they studied specific course materials and demonstrated proficiency in an examination Those who have the NCRW certification, for National Certified Résumé Writer, received this designation from the NRWA after a different course of study and a different examination For contact informa- tion for the CMI, NRWA, PARW/CC, and PRWRA, see their listings at the end of the appendix (the List of Contributors).

Why a Gallery for People Without a Four-Year Degree?

First of all, it should be made clear that people without a four-year degree are not people without education or who go to college for a couple of years, grow tired of studying, drop out, and get a job This stereotypical misconception is refuted by almost every resume in this Gallery People without a four-year degree include diverse kinds of individuals:

■ Those who took courses of a particular curriculum to work in a specialized field, such as paralegals

■ Those who got a two-year degree as a step toward getting a bachelor’s degree

■ Those who are job changers—people in transition—who acquired a two-year degree and possibly additional certification(s) to move to a new field of oppor- tunity

■ Those who had to interrupt their education for various reasons

■ Those who had to work for economic reasons rather than study

■ Those who took different paths (military training, technical education, and so on) to their current occupation

People without a four-year degree have special resume needs Compared to traditional four-year students, who may have more campus activities and less full-time work experi- ence to report on a resume, people without a four-year degree may have more full-time work experience to report This means that Skills and Achievements tend to be empha- sized more than Education.

People without a four-year degree also need resumes that help them compete successfully for jobs of employers who traditionally prefer workers with four-year and higher degrees.

This Gallery showcases resumes that have helped people without a four-year degree pete successfully for better jobs in today’s job market.

com-How This Book Is Organized

Like the first and second editions, this edition has three parts.

Part 1, “Best Resume Tips,” presents resume writing tips, design and layout tips, and resume writing style tips for making resumes visually impressive Some of these tips were

suggested by the resume writers who contributed resumes to Gallery of Best Resumes

(Indianapolis: JIST Works, 1994).

throughout the United States, Australia, and Canada.

Resume writers commonly distinguish between chronological resumes and functional (or

skills) resumes A chronological resume is a photo—a snapshot history of what you did and when you did it A functional resume is a painting—an interpretive sketch of what you can

do for a future employer A third kind of resume, known as a combination resume, is a mix

of recalled history and self-assessment Besides recollecting “the facts,” a combination resume contains self-interpretation and therefore is more like dramatic history than news coverage A chronological resume and a functional resume are not always that different;

often, all that is needed for a functional resume to qualify as a combination resume is the inclusion of some dates, such as those for positions held Almost all the resumes in this edition are combination resumes.

The resumes in the Gallery are presented in the following occupational categories:

Accounting Administrative Support Communications Construction Customer Service Design

Education Events Planning Finance

Firefighting Health and Safety Healthcare Hospitality Human Resources Information Systems/Information Technology Law/Law Enforcement

Maintenance Management Manufacturing Purchasing Real Estate Recruiting Sales and Marketing Technology

Transportation Within each category, the resumes are generally arranged from the simple to the complex.

Many of the resumes are one page, but a number of them are two pages A few are more than two pages.

The Gallery offers a wide range of resumes with features you can use to create and improve your own resumes Notice the plural An important premise of an active job search is that you will not have just one “perfect” resume for all potential employers, but different versions of your resume for different interviews The Gallery, therefore, is not a showroom where you say, “I’ll take that one,” alter it with your information, and then duplicate your version 200 times It is a valuable resource for design ideas, expressions,

and organizational patterns that can help make your own resume a “best resume” for your next interview.

Creating multiple versions of a resume may seem difficult, but it is easy to do if you have (or have access to) a personal computer and a laser printer or some other kind of printer that can produce quality output You also need word processing, desktop publishing, or resume software If you don’t have a computer or don’t know someone who does, most professional resume writers have the hardware and software, and they can make your resume look like those in the Gallery See the List of Contributors in the appendix for the names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and Web sites (if any) of the profes- sional writers whose works are featured in this book A local fast-print shop can make your resume look good, but you will probably not get there the kind of advice and service the professional resume writer provides.

Many employers now encourage the electronic submission of resumes or cover letters because of timeliness and expediency in processing Any of the resumes in this book can

be prepared for electronic transfer If you intend to apply online for positions, be sure you follow the submission guidelines posted by the employer If they are not clearly explained, phone or e-mail the company to inquire You don’t want to be disqualified for a job that suits you well because you did not follow the steps for successful submission.

Part 3, “Best Cover Letter Tips,” discusses some myths about cover letters and offers tips for polishing cover letters Much of the advice offered here also applies to writing resumes Included in this part is an exhibit of 12 cover letters Most of these letters accompanied resumes that appear in the Gallery.

The List of Contributors in the appendix is arranged alphabetically by country, state or province, and city Although most of these resume writers work with local clients, many

of them work nationally or internationally with clients by phone or e-mail.

You can use the Occupation Index to look up resumes by the current or most recent job title This index, however, should not replace careful examination of all the resumes.

Many of the resumes for some other occupation may have features that you can adapt to your own occupation Limiting your search to the Occupation Index may cause you to miss some valuable examples You can use the Features Index to find resumes that contain representative resume sections that may be important to you and your resume needs.

Who This Book Is For

Anyone who wants ideas for creating or improving a resume can benefit from this book It

is especially useful for active job seekers—those who understand the difference between

active and passive job searching A passive job seeker waits until jobs are advertised and

then mails copies of the same resume, along with a standard cover letter, in response to a

number of help-wanted ads An active job seeker believes that a resume should be fied for a specific job target after he or she talks in person or by phone to a prospective interviewer before a job is announced To schedule such an interview is to penetrate the

modi-“hidden job market.” Active job seekers can find in the Gallery’s focused resumes a wealth of strategies for targeting a resume for a particular interview The section “How to Use the Gallery” at the beginning of Part 2 mentions how to do this.

Besides the active job seeker, any unemployed person who wants to create a more itive resume or update an old one should find this book helpful It shows the kinds of resumes professional resume writers are writing, and it showcases resumes for job seekers with particular needs.

compet-What This Book Can Do for You

Besides providing you with a treasury of quality resumes whose features you can use in your own resumes, this book can help transform your thinking about resumes There is

no one “best” way to create a resume This book helps you learn how to shape a resume that is best for you as you try to get an interview with a particular person for a specific job.

You might have been told that resumes should be only one page long; however, this is not necessarily true The examples of multiple-page resumes in the Gallery help you see how

to distribute information effectively across two or more pages If you believe that the way

to update a resume is to add your latest work experiences to your last resume, this book shows you how to rearrange your resume so that you can highlight the most important information about your experience and skills.

After you have studied “Best Resume Writing Tips” in Part 1, examined the professionally written resumes in Part 2, and reviewed “Tips for Polishing Cover Letters” in Part 3, you should be able to create your own resumes and cover letters worthy of inclusion in any gallery of best resumes.

Best Resume Tips

P ◆ 1 A ◆ R ◆ T

Best Resume Tips

at a Glance

Best Resume Writing Tips 9

Best Resume Writing Strategies 10

Best Resume Design and Layout Tips 11

Best Resume Writing Style Tips 16

Best Resume Writing Tips

I n a passive job search, you rely on your resume to do most of the work for you An eye-catching resume that stands out above all the others may be your best shot at get- ting noticed by a prospective employer If your resume is only average and looks like most

of the others in the pile, chances are you won’t be noticed and called for an interview If you want to be singled out because of your resume, it should be somewhere between spec- tacular and award-winning.

In an active job search, however, your resume complements your efforts at being known

to a prospective employer before that person receives it For this reason, you can rely less

on your resume to get someone’s attention Nevertheless, your resume plays an important role in an active job search, which may include the following activities:

■ Talking to relatives, friends, and other acquaintances about helping you meet people who can hire you before a job is available

■ Contacting employers directly, using the yellow pages to identify types of izations that could use a person with your skills

organ-■ Creating phone scripts to speak with the person who is most likely to hire someone with your background and skills

■ Walking into a business in person to talk directly to the person who is most likely to hire someone like you

■ Using a schedule to keep track of your appointments and callbacks

■ Working at least 25 hours a week to search for a job When you are this active in searching for a job, the quality of your resume confirms the quality of your efforts to get to know the person who might hire you, as well as your worth to the company whose workforce you want to join An eye-catching resume makes

it easier for you to sell yourself directly to a prospective employer If your resume is mediocre or conspicuously flawed, it will work against you and may undo all your good efforts in searching for a job.

The following list offers ideas for making your resume visually impressive Many of the ideas are for making your resume pleasing to the eye, but a number of the ideas are strate- gies to use for special cases Other ideas are for eliminating common writing mistakes and stylistic weaknesses.

As you work on your resume, be sure to check out the writing advice in Part 3 You can apply many tips for writing cover letters to the writing of your resume, especially its text portions.

Best Resume Writing Strategies

1 Although many resume books say you should spell out the name of the state in your address at the top of your resume, consider using the state’s postal abbreviation instead The reason is simple: It’s an address.

Anyone wanting to contact you by mail will probably refer to your name and address on the resume If they appear there as they should on an envelope, the writer or typist can simply copy the information you supply If you spell out the name of your state in full, the writer will have to “translate” the name of the state to its postal abbreviation Not everyone knows all the postal abbrevia- tions, and some abbreviations are easily confused For example, those for Alabama (AL), Alaska (AK), American Samoa (AS), Arizona (AZ), and Arkansas (AR) are easy to mix up You can prevent confusion and delay sim- ply by using the correct postal abbreviation.

If you decide to use postal abbreviations in addresses, make certain that you do not add a period after the abbreviations, even before ZIP codes Be sure to use the postal abbreviations in the addresses of references if you provide them.

Do not, however, use the state postal abbreviation when you are indicating only the city and state (not the mailing address) of a school you attended or a business where you worked In these cases, it makes sense to write out the name of the state in full.

2 Adopt a sensible form for phone numbers, and then use it consistently.

Do this in your resume and in all the documents you use in your job search.

Some forms of phone numbers make more sense than others Compare the following:

123-4567 This form is best for a resume circulated locally,

within a region where all the phone numbers have the same area code.

(222) 123-4567 This form is best for a resume circulated in areas with

different area codes.

222-123-4567 This form suggests that the area code should be dialed

in all cases But that isn’t necessary for prospective employers whose area code is 222 Avoid this form.

222/123-4567 This form is illogical and also should be avoided The

slash can mean “or” in an alternate option such as ON/OFF (ON or OFF) In a phone number, this meaning of a slash as “or” makes no sense.

1 (222) 123-4567 This form is long, and the first 1 is unnecessary

Almost everyone will know that 1 should be used before the area code to dial a long-distance number.

222.123.4567 This form, which resembles a Web address, is

becoming more popular, particularly with people in computer and design fields.

Note: For resumes directed to prospective employers outside the United States,

be sure to include the correct international prefixes in all phone numbers so that you and your references can be reached easily by phone.

to do for the company, rather than what the company can do for you.

See Resumes 118 and 163 Resume 45 begins with a bulleted list showing what the applicant can do for the company.

4 Near the top of the first page, consider including a focused Profile tion If your Profile fails to grab the reader’s attention, he or she might discard

sec-your resume without reading further A Profile can be sec-your first opportunity to sell yourself For examples of Profiles, see Resumes 6, 26, 44, 54, 79, 83, 85,

101, 113, 168, and 183 Resumes 74, 77, 165, and 173, along with many others, include a profile without a heading for it.

5 In the Experience section, state achievements or accomplishments, not just duties or responsibilities The reader often already knows the duties

and responsibilities for a given position Achievements, however, can be esting See, for example, Resumes 93, 107, 136, 142, 169, and 172 Resume 175 presents achievements as Benchmarks and Milestones.

inter-6 Consider quantifying your achievements (using dollar amounts, centages, and so on) to make their value more visible See, for example,

per-Resumes 16, 37, 38, 55, 91, 110, 116, 152, 155, 156, 158, 161, 171, 173, and

177 Resumes 133 and 174 use charts to quantify achievements.

7 When skills and abilities are varied, group them according to categories for easier comprehension See, for example, Resumes 56, 96, 106, 166,

and 181.

8 Create a prominent Expertise section that draws together skills and abilities you have gained in previous or current work experience See,

for example, Resumes 22, 63, 85, 89, 104, 123, and 149.

9 Consider including a Highlights section to draw attention to special accomplishments or achievements See, for example, Resumes 4, 64, 121,

or needed fixing See, for example, Resumes 138 and 159 Resumes 21 and

124 present achievements as Results, and Resumes 45 and 135 indicate Payoffs Resume 78 presents Outcomes.

Best Resume Design and Layout Tips

13 Use quality paper correctly If you use quality watermarked paper for your

resume, be sure to use the right side of the paper To know which side is the right side, hold a blank sheet of paper up to a light source If you can see a watermark and read it, the right side of the paper is facing you This is the sur- face for typing or printing If the watermark is unreadable or if any characters

look backward, you are looking at the “underside” of the paper—the side that should be left blank if you use only one side of the sheet.

14 Use adequate white space A sheet of paper with no words on it is

impossi-ble to read Likewise, a sheet of paper with words all over it is impossiimpossi-ble to read The goal is to have a comfortable mix of white space and words If your resume has too many words and not enough white space, it looks cluttered and unfriendly If it has too much white space and too few words, it looks skimpy and unimportant Make certain that adequate white space exists between the main sections For examples that display good use of white space, see Resumes

4, 20, 30, 54, 68, 69, 71, 83, 85, 88, 176, 184, 187, 192, and many others.

15 Make the margins uniform in width and preferably no less than an inch Margins are part of a resume’s white space If the margins shrink below

an inch, the page begins to have a “too much to read” look An enemy of gins is the one-page rule If you try to fit more than one page of information on

mar-a pmar-age, the first temptmar-ation is to shrink the mmar-argins to mmar-ake room for the extrmar-a material It is better to shrink the material by paring it down than to reduce the size of the left, right, top, and bottom margins Decreasing the type’s point size is another way to save the margins Try reducing the point size of text in your resume to 10 points Then see how your information looks with the font(s) you are using Different fonts produce different results In your effort

to save the margins, be certain that you don’t make the type too small to be readable.

16 Be consistent in your use of line spacing How you handle line spacing can

tell the reader how good you are at details and how consistent you are in your use of them If, near the beginning of your resume, you insert two line spaces (two hard returns in a word processing program) between two main sections,

be sure to put two line spaces between the main sections throughout your resume.

17 Be consistent in your use of character spacing If you usually put two

spaces after a period at the end of a sentence, make certain that you use two spaces consistently The same is true for colons If you put two spaces after colons, do so consistently.

Note that an em dash—a dash the width of the letter m—does not require

spaces before or after it Similarly, an en dash—a dash the width of the letter

n—should not have a space before and after it An en dash is commonly used

between a range of numbers, such as 2002–2004 If you use “to” instead of an

en dash in a range of numbers, be sure to use “to” consistently in other ranges.

No space should go between the P and O of P.O Box Only one space is needed

between a state’s postal abbreviation and the ZIP code You should insert a space between the first and second initials of a person’s name, as in I M.

Jobseeker (not I.M Jobseeker) These conventions have become widely

adopt-ed in English and business communications If, however, you use other ventions, be sure to be consistent In resumes, as in grammar, consistency is more important than conformity.

con-18 Make certain that characters, lines, and images contrast well with the paper The printed quality depends on the device used to print your resume If

you use an inkjet or laser printer, check that the characters are sharp and clean, without smudges or traces of extra toner.

the appearance of a well-written resume Try to set tabs or indents consistently throughout the text instead of having a mix of tab stops or indents in different sections.

20 Try left- or right-aligning dates This technique is especially useful in

chronological resumes and combination resumes For examples of left-aligned dates, see Resumes 32 and 140 For right-aligned dates, look at Resumes 3, 40, and 71.

21 Use as many pages as you need to portray your qualifications

adequate-ly to a specific interviewer for a particular job Try to limit your resume

to one page, but set the upper limit at four pages No rule about the number of pages makes sense in all cases The determining factors are your qualifications and experiences, the requirements of the job, and the interviewer’s interests and pet peeves If you know that an interviewer refuses to look at a resume longer than a page, that says it all: You need to deliver a one-page resume if you want to get past the first gate For examples of two-page resumes, see Resumes

9, 75, 94, 108, 110, 111, 136, 156, 169, and 189 For three-page resumes, look

at Resumes 62, 66, 100, and 120.

22 Make each page a full page More important than the number of pages is

whether each page you have is a full page A partial page suggests deficiency, as

if the reason for it is simply that information on page 1 has spilled over onto page 2 In that situation, try to compress all your information onto the first page If you have a resume that is almost two pages, make it two full pages.

23 When you have letters of recommendation, use quotations from them as testimonials in your resume Devoting a whole column to the positive opin-

ions of “external authorities” helps make a resume convincing as well as impressive See, for example, Resumes 6, 23, 47, 75, 80, 90, 94, and 167.

24 Unless you enlist the services of a professional printer or skilled top publisher, resist the temptation to use full justification for text (to make each line go all the way to the right margin) The price you pay for

desk-a strdesk-aight right mdesk-argin is uneven word spdesk-acing Words mdesk-ay desk-appedesk-ar too close together on some lines and too spread out on others Although the resume might look like typeset text, you lose readability See also Tip 4 in the section

“Using Good Strategies for Letters” in Part 3.

25 If you can choose a typeface for your resume, use a serif font for

greater readability Serif fonts have little lines extending from the tops,

bot-toms, and ends of the characters These fonts tend to be easier to read than

sans serif (without serif) fonts, especially in low-light conditions Compare the

following font examples:

Words such as skills and abilities, which have several consecutive thin letters,

are more readable in a serif font than in a sans serif font.

26 If possible, avoid using monospaced fonts, such as Courier A font is

monospaced if each character takes up the same amount of space For example,

in a monospaced font, the letter i is as wide as the letter m Therefore, in

Courier type, iiiii is as wide as mmmmm Courier was a standard of business communications during the 1960s and 1970s because it was the font supplied with IBM Selectric typewriters Because of its widespread use, it is now consid- ered “common.” It also takes up a lot of space, so you can’t pack as much infor- mation on a page with Courier type as you can with a proportionally spaced type such as Times New Roman.

27 Think twice before using all uppercase letters in parts of your resume.

A common misconception is that uppercase letters are easier to read than ercase letters Actually, the ascenders and descenders of lowercase letters make them more distinguishable from each other and therefore more recognizable than uppercase letters For a test, look at a string of uppercase letters and throw them gradually out of focus by squinting Uppercase letters become a blur sooner than lowercase letters do.

low-28 Think twice about underlining some words in your resume Underlining

defeats the purpose of serifs at the bottom of characters by blending with the serifs In trying to emphasize words, you lose some visual clarity This is espe- cially true if you use underlining with uppercase letters in centered or side headings.

29 Use italic carefully Whenever possible, use italic instead of underlining

when you need to call attention to a word or phrase You might consider using italic for duties or achievements, as in Resumes 5 and 36 Resumes 93 and 95 use italic to describe the companies where the applicant worked Think twice about using italic often, however, because italic characters are less readable than normal characters.

30 To make your resume stand out, consider using unconventional display type for headings See, for example, Resumes 49, 50, 58, and 169.

31 If you have access to many fonts through word processing or desktop publishing, beware of becoming “font happy” and turning your resume into a font circus Frequent font changes can distract the reader, AND SO CAN GAUDY DISPLAY TYPE.

32 Be aware of the value differences of black type Some typefaces are light;

others are dark Notice the following lines:

A quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

A quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Most typefaces fall somewhere between these two With the variables of height, width, thickness, serifs, angles, curves, spacing, ink color, ink density, and boldfacing, you can see that type offers an infinite range of values from light to dark Try to make your resume more visually interesting by offering stronger contrasts between light and dark type See, for example, Resumes 21,

49, 50, 58, 73, 155, and 171.

33 Use boldfacing to make different job experiences more evident See, for

example, Resumes 4, 5, 12, 59, 66, 71, 74, 110, and many others.

able printer, use special characters to enhance the look of your resume.

For example, use curly quotation marks (“ ”) instead of their straight, writer” equivalents (" ") For a dash, use an em dash (—) Don’t use two hyphens ( ) or a hyphen with a space on either side ( - ) To separate dates, try

“type-using an en dash (a dash the width of the letter n: –) instead of a hyphen, as in

2001–2004.

35 To call attention to an item in a list, use a bullet (•) or a box (❏) instead of a hyphen (-) Browse through the Gallery and notice how bullets

are used effectively as attention getters.

36 For variety, try using bullets of a different style, such as diamond (◆) bullets, rather than the usual round or square bullets Examples with

diamonds are Resumes 2, 6, 39, 62, and 182 For other kinds of bullets, see Resumes 9, 12, 16, 20, 25, 27, 36, 45, 47, 48, 56, 58, 72, 87, 95, 151, 161, and 178.

37 Make a bullet a little smaller than the lowercase letters that appear after it Disregard any ascenders or descenders on the letters Compare the

following bullet sizes:

•Too small • Too large • Better • Just right

38 When you use bullets, make certain that the bulleted items go beyond the superficial and contain information that employers really want to know Many short bulleted statements that say nothing special can affect the

reader negatively Brevity is not always the best strategy with bullets For examples of substantial bulleted items, see Resumes 96 and 100.

39 When the amount of information justifies a longer resume, repeat a particular graphic to unify the entire resume Resume 50, for example, dis-

plays a series of small black boxes, each containing a large letter Resume 98 uses arrow tips repeatedly.

40 If possible, visually coordinate the resume and its companion cover ter with the same font treatment or graphic to catch the reader’s atten- tion See, for example, Resumes 63, 102, and 123 and Cover Letters 2, 7, and 8,

let-respectively.

41 Try to make graphics match your field See, for example, Resumes 11, 40,

44, 46, 48, 72, 74, 80, 82, 84, 90, 95, 150, and 180 Resume 37 includes

compa-ny logos Some of the information presented in Resume 82 is in the shape of a cake!

42 Use a horizontal line or lines to separate your name or contact mation from the rest of the resume If you browse through the Gallery, you

infor-can see many resumes that use horizontal lines this way See, for example, Resumes 13, 20, 34, 75, 118, 125, 127, 154, 160, 182, 188, and 194 Resume

148 contains a snazzy green line as a separator.

43 Use horizontal lines to separate the different sections of the resume.

See, for example, Resumes 43, 61, and 67 See also Resumes 4, 8, 37, 57, 80,

114, and 162, whose lines are interrupted by the section headings.

44 To call attention to a resume section or certain information, use zontal lines to enclose it See, for example, Resumes 19, 65, 99, and 107 See

hori-also Resumes 68, 109, and 153, in which two or more sections are enclosed by horizontal lines.

45 Change the thickness of part of a horizontal line to call attention to a section heading below the line See, for example, Resumes 101 and 185 Use

short horizontal lines to call attention to headings, as in Resumes 64 and 106.

46 Enclose your resume within a page border for visual interest See, for

example, Resumes 9, 35, 47, 52, 63, 123, 157, 160, 166, 170, and 173 Place a box around information you want to stand out, as shown in Resumes 27, 28,

122, and 193.

47 Use a vertical line or lines to spice up your resume See, for example,

Resumes 1, 23, 49, and 169 See also Resumes 44 and 86, in which both cal and horizontal lines are used.

verti-48 Use shaded boxes to make a page visually more interesting See, for

example, Resumes 37, 94, 163, and 167 Compare these boxes with the shadow boxes in Resumes 49 and 85 Note the shaded bars used for headings in Resumes 27 and 77 See also the vertical black bars for headings in Resume 42, and look at the vertical black bar for displaying contact information in

Resume 108.

Best Resume Writing Style Tips

49 Avoid using the archaic word “upon” in the References section The

common statement “References available upon request” needs to be simplified, updated, or even deleted in resume writing The word “upon” is one of the finest words of the 13th century, but it’s a stuffy word at the beginning of the 21st century Usually, “on” will do in place of “upon.” Other possibilities are

“References available by request” and “References available.” Because most readers of resumes know that applicants can usually provide several reference letters, this statement is probably unnecessary A reader who is seriously inter- ested in you will ask about reference letters.

50 Check that words or phrases in lists are parallel For example, notice the

bulleted items in the Employment Summary section of Resume 34 and in the Accomplishments section of Resume 35 All the verbs are in the past tense.

51 Use capital letters correctly Resumes usually contain many of the

following:

■ Names of people, companies, organizations, government agencies, awards, and prizes

■ Titles of job positions and publications

■ References to academic fields (such as chemistry, English, and mathematics)

■ Geographic regions (such as the Midwest, the East, the state of California, and Oregon State)

Because of such words, resumes are minefields for the misuse of uppercase ters When you don’t know whether a word should have an initial capital let- ter, don’t guess Consult a dictionary, a handbook on style, or some other

let-can provide the information you need If so, you are only a phone call away from an accurate answer.

Use headline style in headings with upper- and lowercase letters In other words, capitalize the first letter of the first word, the last word, and each main

word in the heading, but not articles (a, an, and the), conjunctions (and, but, or,

nor, for, yet, and so), and short prepositions (such as at, by, in, and on) within

the heading Capitalize prepositions of five or more letters.

To create a heading with small caps, first create a heading with upper- and lowercase letters Then select the heading and assign small caps to it through the Format, Font, Small caps command The original uppercase letters will be taller than the original lowercase letters, which will now appear as small capi- tal letters.

52 Check that you have used capital letters and hyphens correctly in puter terms If you want to show in a Computer Experience section that you

com-have used certain hardware and software, you may give the opposite sion if you don’t use uppercase letters and hyphens correctly Note the correct use of capitals and hyphens in the following names of hardware, software, and computer companies:

The reason that many computer product names have an internal uppercase ter is for the sake of a trademark A word with unusual spelling or capitaliza- tion can be trademarked When you use the correct forms of these words, you are honoring trademarks and registered trademarks and showing that you are

let-in the know.

53. Use all uppercase letters for most acronyms An acronym is a

pronounce-able word usually formed from the initial letters of the words in a compound term, or sometimes from multiple letters in those words Note the following examples:

BASIC Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code

An acronym such as radar (radio detecting and ranging) has become so

com-mon that it is no longer all uppercase.

54 Be aware of the difference between an acronym and an abbreviation.

Remember, an acronym is a combination of letters making a word that you can pronounce as a word An abbreviation, however, may consist of uppercase let- ters (without periods) that you can pronounce only as letters and never as a word Examples are CBS, NFL, YWCA, and AFL-CIO.

55 Be sure to spell every word correctly A resume with just one misspelling

is not impressive and may undermine all the hours you spent putting it

togeth-er Worse than that, one misspelling may be what the reader is looking for to screen you out, particularly if you are applying for a position that requires accuracy with words.

Your computer’s spelling checker will catch many misspellings It will not,

however, detect when you have inadvertently used a wrong word (to for too,

for example) Also be wary of letting someone else check your resume If the other person is not a good speller, you may not get any real help The best authority is a good dictionary.

56 For words that have more than one correct spelling, use the preferred form This form is the one that appears first in a dictionary For example, if

you see the entry trav•el•ing or trav•el•ling, the first form (with one l) is the

preferred spelling If you make it a practice to use the preferred spelling, you will build consistency in your resumes and cover letters.

57 Avoid British spellings These slip into American usage through books and

online articles published in Great Britain Note the following words:

British Spelling American Spelling

Note: If you look in the dictionary for a word with a prefix and you can’t find

the word, look for just the prefix You might find a small-print listing of a ber of words that begin with that prefix.

num-59 Be aware that compounds (combinations of words) present special problems for hyphenation Writers’ handbooks and books on style do not

always agree on how compounds should be hyphenated Many compounds are

evolving from open compounds (two different words) to hyphenated pounds (two words joined by a hyphen) to closed compounds (one word) In different dictionaries, you can therefore find the words copy editor, copy-editor, and copyeditor No wonder the issue is confusing! Most style books do agree,

com-however, that when some compounds appear as an adjective before a noun, the compound should be hyphenated When the same compound appears after a noun, hyphenation is unnecessary Compare the following two sentences:

I scheduled well-attended conferences.

The conferences I scheduled were well attended.

Chicago Manual of Style (the 15th Edition is the latest) You should be able to

find a copy at your local library.

60. Hyphenate so-called permanent hyphenated compounds Usually, you can

find these by looking them up in the dictionary You can spot them easily because they have a long hyphen (–) for visibility in the dictionary Hyphenate these words (with a standard hyphen) wherever they appear, before or after a noun Here are some examples:

Note that The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition, recommends that

perma-nent hyphenated compounds should no longer be considered permaperma-nent but may be used without a hyphen (or hyphens) when they appear after a noun or are used adverbially (See Tip 58.)

The Gallery

of Professional Resumes

P ◆2 A ◆ R ◆ T

■ Human Resources Resumes 199

■ Information Systems/Information Technology Resumes 205

■ Law/Law Enforcement Resumes 233

Y ou can learn much from the Gallery just by browsing through it To make the best use of this resource, however, read the following suggestions before you begin.

Look at the resumes in the category containing your field, related fields, or your target occupation Notice what kinds of resumes other people have used to find similar

jobs Always remember, though, that your resume should not be “canned.” It should not look just like someone else’s resume but should reflect your own background, unique experiences, and goals.

Use the Gallery primarily as an “idea book.” Even if you don’t find a resume for

your specific occupation or job, be sure to look at all the resumes for ideas you can borrow

or adapt You may be able to modify some of the sections or statements with information that applies to your own situation or job target.

Study the ways in which professional resume writers have formatted the cants’ names, addresses, and phone numbers In most instances, this information

appli-appears at the top of the resume’s first page Look at typestyles, size of type, and use of boldface See whether the personal information is centered on lines, spread across a line,

or located near the margin on one side of a page Look for the use of horizontal lines to separate this information from the rest of the resume, to separate the address and phone number from the person’s name, or to enclose information for greater visibility.

Look at each resume to see what section appears first after the personal tion Then compare those same sections across the Gallery For example, look just at the

informa-resumes that have a Profile as the first section Compare the Profiles for length, clarity, and use of words Do the Profiles contain complete sentences or just one or more partial lines of thought? Are some Profiles better than others in your opinion? Do you see one or more Profiles that come close to matching a Profile for you? After you have compared

Profiles, try writing in your own words a Profile for yourself.

Repeat this “horizontal comparison” for each of the sections across the Gallery.

Compare all the Education sections, all the Qualifications sections, and so on As you make these comparisons, continue to note differences in length, the kinds of words and phrases used, and the effectiveness of the content Jot down any ideas that might be useful for your own resume.

As you compare sections across the Gallery, pay special attention to the Profile, Summary, Areas of Expertise, Career Highlights, Qualifications, and Experience sections (Most resumes don’t have all of these sections.) Notice how skills and

accomplishments are worked into these sections Skills and accomplishments are variables

you can select to put a certain “spin” on your resume as you pitch it to a particular viewer or job Your observations here should be especially valuable for your own resume versions.

inter-How to Use the Gallery

After you have examined the resumes “horizontally” (section by section), pare them “vertically” (design by design) To do this, you need to determine which

com-resumes have the same sections in the same order, and then compare just those com-resumes.

For example, look for resumes that have personal information at the top, a Profile, an Experience section, and an Education section (Notice that the section heads may differ

slightly Instead of the word Experience, you might find Work Experience, Employment, or

Career Highlights.) When you examine the resumes in this way, you are looking at their structural design, which means the order in which the various sections appear The same

order can appear in resumes of different fields or jobs, so it is important to explore the whole Gallery and not limit your investigation to resumes in your field or related fields.

Developing a sense of resume structure is extremely important because it enables you to emphasize the most important information about yourself A resume is a little like a newspaper article—read quickly and usually discarded before the reader finishes That is why the information in newspaper articles often dwindles in significance toward the end.

For the same reason, the most important, attention-getting information about you should

be at or near the top of your resume What follows should appear in order of descending significance.

If you know that the reader will be more interested in your work experience than your education because you don’t have a four-year degree, put your Experience section before your Education If you know that the reader will be inter-

ested in your skills regardless of your education and work experience, put your Skills tion at or near the beginning of your resume In this way, you can help ensure that anyone

sec-who reads only part of your resume will read the “best” about you Your hope is that this

information will encourage the reader to read on to the end of the resume and, above all, take an interest in you.

Compare the resumes according to visual design features, such as the use of zontal and vertical lines, borders, boxes, bullets, white space, graphics, and inverse type (light characters on a dark background) Use the Features Index for

hori-help here Notice which resumes have more visual impact at first glance and which ones make no initial impression Do some of the resumes seem more inviting to read than oth- ers? Which ones are less appealing because they have too much information, or too little?

Which ones seem to have the right balance of information and white space?

After comparing the visual design features, choose the design ideas that might improve your own resume You will want to be selective here and not try to work every design pos- sibility into your resume As in writing, “less is more” in resume making, especially when you integrate design features with content.

1 Accounting Clerk/Technology Not specified 27

Specialist

Accounting

Resumes at a GlanceRESUME LAST OR CURRENT

C NICHOLAS DONATO, MCP, A+

8899 FORTIN ROAD NAPLES, FLORIDA 34134

OBJECTIVE Position offering growth opportunity in a computer-networking environment

SUMMARY Ź Broad knowledge of current computer industry, including networking

Ź Experienced retail store manager of national footwear chain

Ź Highly motivated and resourceful; formal and self-taught in developing professional business acumen and technical skills

Ź Proven abilities in sales, merchandising, and customer service in computer industry and retail business

EXPERIENCE Accounting Offices of Fritsch, Botts, Leonard, CPAs, Naples, FL

Accounting Clerk/Technology Specialist, 2001–present

x Prepare worksheets, taxes, accounts payable and receivable

x Set up and care for computer hardware and other office equipment

x Install and effectively maintain general business and accounting software

Cordell Business Technologies, Fort Meyers, FL

Executive Teleservices Account Analyst, 2000–2001

x Called commercial entities for copier and network integration divisions

x Generated leads, set appointments after discovering needs and interests

x Made customer calls, servicing existing accounts in database

x Successfully prospected for new accounts and their development

CompUSA, Cape Coral, FL

Account Executive, 1998–2000

x Sold computer merchandise from busy nationally recognized retail outlet

x Managed account deck of 50 private and government clients

x Actively participated in lucrative state and local client bidding

x Earned Top Seller of the Month award six times; highest commissions 1999

Thom Mcan Shoes, Inc., Raleigh, NC

Manager and Assistant Manager, 1994–1998

x Managed until corporate downsizing called for store closing

x Hired and trained sales staff in proper company merchandising techniques

EDUCATION Southwest Florida Community College, Fort Meyers, FL

A.S Degree in Business Administration, Accounting, May 2000

Accounting certificate, July 2001

Stephens University, Raleigh, NC

Microsoft Certified Professional, 1999 CompTIA’s A+ Certified, 1998

Sanders-Michaelson College, Raleigh, NC

Attended two semesters, 1992–1993

Edward Turilli, Newport, Rhode Island

Boxes enclose the contact information, the section headings, and the body of information Bullets

point to Summary items and to duties and achievements in the Experience section.

1

KATRINA LARSON

7889 Forest Avenue x Huntington Beach, CA 55555 x (555) 555–5555

OBJECTIVE: Payroll Clerk SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

x Well-organized and detail-oriented with experience in payroll, office support, data entry and billing Computer skills include MS Word and Excel and various proprietary software programs

x Self-motivated employee who performs diligently to accomplish business goals Ability to learn new skills quickly and effectively

x Adept in customer relations with the ability to handle and resolve issues Team-oriented; thrive in fast-paced environments Record of dependability

Researching and resolving payroll discrepancies in a timely manner

Maintaining accurate customer billing information and preparing invoices in an efficient, timely manner

Reception / Customer Service

Greeting visitors; answering busy multiline telephone systems; screening and transferring calls while handling general inquiries

Addressing customer concerns, researching and resolving problems to ensure service satisfaction; extensive interface with all levels of internal personnel

Administrative Support

Performing diverse administrative duties such as word processing correspondence, creating presentations and maintaining confidential files/records

Scheduling and coordinating meetings and appointments; ordering department supplies

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

SULLIVAN CORP., Huntington Beach, CA

Office/Billing Clerk (1996 to present)

JENSEN INC., Huntington Beach, CA

Louise Garver, Enfield, Connecticut

Horizontal lines under the main section headings help separate the sections visually before you read any of their content Thickening of the line under the person's name helps call attention

to it.

2

Melissa Simon 99 Norman Road x Wellesley, MA 02481

781-555-1234 x msimon@xyz.com

Summary

Experienced and detail-oriented accounting professional, with a proven ability to perform a broad range

of functions quickly and accurately in a fast-paced environment Skilled at multitasking Recognized for dedication, work ethic, and going the extra mile to get the job done Excellent interpersonal skills

Expertise includes

x Accounts payable x Collections

x Bank statement reconciliations x Bank deposits

x Expense reports x Spreadsheets

x Payroll x Problem resolution

Selected Achievements

x Resolved price discrepancies and past-due balances with up to 700 vendors, including subcontractors

x Oversaw accounts-payable functions for 10 divisions nationwide; set up and maintained new accounts for multiple divisions

x Uncovered and reported fraudulent activities, enabling company to recover $10,000

x Streamlined procedures to ensure timely production of all accounting reports

x Managed twice-weekly check run of 400 checks per week and verified them manually for accuracy

Experience

Accounts-Payable Clerk —First Data, Watertown, MA 1997–2004 Oversaw the day-to-day A/P operations for a 450-person company with 10 divisions throughout the U.S

Processed codes and supervised check runs and mailings Input expense reports Assisted auditors

at year-end Communicated with vendors to expedite processing of checks Performed collection calls regarding outstanding accounts Assisted with bank reconciliations

Assistant to Controller —Boston Lighting Company, Brighton, MA 1991–1997 Supervised daily A/P functions for light fixture company Detected fraudulent activities that enabled company to recover $10,000 Maintained daily cash and deposits Performed daily audit from all payroll activity, credit cards, and accounts receivable Issued invoices for accounts receivable Monitored petty cash and bank deposits

Accounting Clerk —Town of Westwood, Westwood, MA 1988–1991 Processed payments of property taxes and water/sewer bills

Computer Skills Deltek, Peachtree, proprietary accounting software, MS Word, MS Excel

Wendy Gelberg, Needham, Massachusetts

The Summary consists of a profile statement and a two-column list of areas of expertise

The Selected Achievements section contains five bulleted accomplishments—most of them

3

Areas of Expertise

Bookkeeping: AP/AR, bank reconciliations, financial reports, payroll

HR Administration: 401(k) and medical benefits, employee manuals, training General Operations: Office procedures, moves, startups, closings

Key Strengths

i Adept at handling multiple tasks in an organized manner

i Proven ability to train and supervise staff

i Experience working with vendors and building operations personnel

i Sensitive to confidentiality of employee records and financial data

i Excellent written and verbal communication skills

i Proficient in Intuit QuickBooks Pro and MS Excel and Word; working knowledge

of Microsoft Outlook, Windows 95/98/NT, and Internet Explorer

Selected Accomplishments

i Managed two office moves with minimal inconvenience and downtime

i Selected to assist with office closing—employee layoffs, contract terminations, and final audit

Jan Holliday, Harleysville, Pennsylvania

This resume has two kinds of horizontal lines: a full line under the individual's name on each page, and partial lines on each side of the centered section headings These lines with the section headings make it easy to see at a glance the resume's overall design because you can quickly view

4

W ENDY A C ARUTHERS

page 2

EXPERIENCE continued

Office Manager

EASTERN OFFICE SUPPLY, INC., Montgomeryville, PA (1997–1999) Performed full-charge bookkeeping services and human resources administration for an independent office equipment dealership Using QuickBooks Pro, prepared invoices, accounts payable, accounts receivable, bank reconciliations, financial statements, and payroll Maintained confidential employee files and administered medical benefits and 401(k) program

Selected Accomplishments

i Increased efficiency by training staff in standard office procedures

i Consistently received top ratings on performance evaluations

Family Care and Home Management

(1994–1997) Cared for two small children Handled day-to-day household operations and acted as general contractor for building a home addition Managed family finances in Quicken—established budget, paid bills, and balanced bank accounts Prepared tax returns for three households using TurboTax

EDUCATION

Courses in Word and Excel, Franklin Area Adult School, Morrisville, PA (1996–1997)

A.S., Accounting, Gateway Business College, Somerfield, PA (1990)

the relative length of each section In the Experience section the paragraph under each job

position indicates responsibilities Bullets point to achievements Boldfacing makes the positions

evident.